MORE ON CAPITAL

ADVERTISEMENT

At that launch event, Liu said that he unequivocally opposed a New York Police Department anti-terrorism surveillance program which focused on Muslims groups and individuals.

"We have ongoing issues of surveillance of people just because of their religious faith," said Liu, who is also the only Democratic candidate to call for a complete end to the department's stop-and-frisk program. "That's not right and we should put an end to that."
Liu also spoke about the need to have Muslim holidays recognized by New York City public schools, which the current administration has resisted.
(The only other mayoral candidate who attended the launch of the Muslim Democratic Club of New York was Sal Albanese, who did not address the issue of NYPD surveillance.)

The surveillance program was described in detail by the Associated Press, in a series of articles starting in September 2011. The series lasted for months and won a Pulitzer Prize last year. The NYPD strongly objected to the AP's characterization and description of the program.